Modern applications, in particular in communications technology, increasingly require miniaturized microphones. One way of effecting miniaturization, is to embody the microphone as an MEMS component (micro-electro-mechanical system) which is structured from and on, in particular, crystalline substrates such as silicon, for example, using micromechanical techniques. Such microphones can have, e.g., a capacitively acting or alternatively a piezo electric diaphragm in order to convert acoustic vibrations into electrical signals. Such miniaturized microphones are usually encapsulated in such a way that only a sound entry opening remains, which enables soundwaves to pass to the microphone diaphragm. In this case, the encapsulation can comprise a baseplate, on which a microphone chips is mounted. The baseplate can then have solderable contacts on the side of the microphone chip or on the opposite side to the microphone chip, by means of which the entire MEMS component (microphone) is mounted on the printed circuit board of an arbitrary circuit environment.
In principle, two different possibilities are appropriate here for mounting a microphone on a printed circuit board. Firstly, the microphone can be mounted on the top side of a printed circuit board with the sound entry opening facing upward. Microphones designed for this are known from PCT patent application WO2005/086532A2, for example.
A further possibility for mounting is to mount a microphone with a downwardly facing sound entry opening above a hole in the printed circuit board, with the result that the sound reaches the microphone through the hole in the printed board. Such an arrangement requires the microphone to be mounted on the underside of the printed circuit board, while the top side of the printed circuit board faces toward the outside, that is to say toward the sound entry. Microphones which are embodied as MEMS components and which are suitable for such mounting are known from PCT publication WO 2007/054070 or from WO 2007/054071, as examples.
To date, therefore, a microphone manufacturer has had to be able to offer at least two different microphone constructions, each of which can only be mounted using one of the two mounting techniques mentioned, if the manufacturer wants to provide components for both mounting techniques.